


The Golden Caterpie

by link621



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-24
Updated: 2013-06-24
Packaged: 2017-12-16 02:11:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/856574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/link621/pseuds/link621
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Atobe files a police report when his prized golden caterpie goes missing. Detective Sanada is on the case! Present for Ori.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Golden Caterpie

Sanada’s eyes fell upon the foul creature, eyeing it warily. His hand drifted toward his belt, toward the first pokéball attached. Its black eyes stared at him from under a domed white head with two white baubles. A psychic type - he did not trust psychic types. 

“Its tail has a special property,” Yanagi was explaining, looking proudly at the pokémon between them. He wore the long, off-white coat of a detective which stood out against the standard blue officer’s uniform worn by everyone else at the station. For a high profile case like this, detectives would come in from the Pokémon League to aid local law enforcement... this particular detective just so happened to be a childhood friend of Sanada’s. “The tail has a second, smaller brain in it that can detect guilt. However, you just must make sure to approach it with caution, you may be bitten.” 

“By its tail?” Sanada asked, indignant. The pokémon before him, surely working its evil wiles upon him, let out a soft cry of affirmation. It was a cute noise - the noise a creature trying to lower his guard might make. That was when he noticed the large, toothy grin on the rounded tail - fangs large enough to pierce skin and warrant stitches gnashing together with purpose. Sanada squared his shoulders. “No.”

“No?” Yanagi curiously lifted one eyebrow, though he was already setting up the trade so that the pokémon would be loyal to Sanada, uncaring of the certain doom that would befall Sanada should he be tied to this vile beast.

Not to appear weak in front of his adversary, Sanada explained simply, “It is evil, Renji.”

Ever patient, but only to a point, Yanagi rolled his eyes skyward. “That’s what you told me about caterpie.”

Incidentally, caterpie was how it had began.

~*~

 _”A golden caterpie?_ ” The thought itself was ridiculous, but from what he knew of the Atobe Corporation and the unfathomable wealth they possessed, perhaps they made a habit of keeping solid gold pokémon, as well.

“It’s not what you’re thinking,” Kuwahara interjected, holding up a hand as though it would pause the thought process. “Atobe... exaggerates a lot in his report. It’s a living caterpie... but it has shiny coloring. They are bright yellow.” Sanada was immediately on edge at that - why would anyone wish to retrieve a living caterpie, once lost?

Still, he remained professional. “Does Atobe have any enemies?”

“Many,” Marui said, tapping the manila case file against the palm of his hand. He leaned against the edge of Kuwahara’s desk, almost sitting on top of his nameplate. His partner began to protest, but was ignored completely by the redhead. “Two that popped up a few times in interviewing witnesses, however. Tezuka Kunimitsu, the trainer who defeated the champion a few years back, it turns out he and Atobe were childhood rivals.” 

Unbeknownst to Marui, Sanada was familiar with the name - Tezuka was his childhood rival, as well. Even without his personal experience, there was plenty of information out there about the strongest trainer in Kantou... though he had disappeared not long after his victory. “And the other?” Sanada asked, afraid his face would betray his thoughts if he continued to focus on Tezuka.

“Yukimura Seiichi,” Marui said, not bothering to offer further explanation. Everyone knew who Yukimura was - he was the champion of Kanto and Johto. More than once, he had aided the police force in their fight against Team Rocket, though Sanada himself had never personally met the champion. He was notoriously elusive... and no one knew where he went when he was not facing challengers. Another man that would be difficult to find.

But neither man would have any reason to steal a pokémon. Especially not the champion himself who was the highest ranking member of the pokémon league. Lest it gnaw at him, Sanada asked, “What connection does Yukimura have to Atobe?”

Marui and Kuwahara exchanged a glance before the former shrugged one shoulder easily. “Sounds like Yukimura doesn’t like Atobe’s personality.”

Well, that made two of them.

~*~

Sanada had already decided that he would rely on his own instincts to detect guilt rather than those of some evil second head of a psychic pokémon by the time he finally tracked down Tezuka. It was not easy, to say the least. There had been a number of rumors that Tezuka had spent the past three years training atop a mountain with frighteningly strong pokémon waiting for someone who was at his level to scale the mountain and challenge him. Even if that had once been the case, and he did not really care to ask, Yanagi’s intelligence stated that Tezuka had last been seen camping near the base of Mt. Moon, aiding a friend on his pokémon journey that had so far obtained only one Kanto badge. 

The strategy was simple - rather than spending hours exploring the mountain in search of his old friend, Sanada camped out at the Cerulean City pokémon center waiting for them to show up. The gym leaders there - known colloquially as the “Golden Pair” - specialized in water types, though they would also battle with a Minun-Plusle pair. Maybe if Sanada could convince them to battle only with their electric pair, he could even help his Phanpy gain some experience. He had resolved to do so the first morning he was in Cerulean City, but Tezuka was far too prompt in arriving, along with his... friend.

Where Tezuka was tall, lean, and reserved, the other man was short, muscular, and a chatter box. Sanada hardly had the opportunity to form an opinion before Tezuka walked over to him, a tiny pokémon nestled against his chest. “Sanada,” Tezuka greeted with a nod of his head. Age had lowered his voice a bit, though he had always looked like he was at least ten years older than his actual age. It was a stark contrast for the tiny pokémon he carried which was singing happily to itself.

“Tezuka,” Sanada replied, distracted by the singing. A Clefairy? No... too small to be a Clefairy. It couldn’t possibly be a Cleffa, of course. Right? With their proximity to the Day Care, it was possible that Tezuka had raised the small pokémon from a pink egg covered in white, star-shaped dots... Or he had found it at Mt. Moon, which was simply unprecedented. Just like everything Tezuka did, really. Everything.

“Who’s your friend?” The redhead behind Tezuka asked. He was also being trailed by a pokémon - a Jigglypuff he no doubt captured during their hike through Mt. Moon. They had the same hair - a swirl of a cowlick over their foreheads. They even shared the same big, stupid blue eyes. Probably not an intelligent thought between them.

“Sanada Genichirou,” Tezuka replied simply. “He’s a police officer.”

“A ‘Jenny’, huh?” the ginger man mused, using the colloquial term for the uniformed police. The _unwelcome_ colloquial term for the uniformed police. “Well, nice to meet you. I’m ‘lucky’ Sengoku Kiyosumi.” And he would not be so lucky after his Jigglypuff had tasted some of Phanpy’s wrath. Yes, Phanpy might even evolve before this investigation was over... though Sanada rather preferred his Phanpy just the way it was. So cute.

But, he had not come to battle. “I must have a word with you, Tezuka. Privately.”

Sengoku thankfully did not need any prompting to know he was not wanted. “Oh, I wanted to visit my sister, anyway... why don’t you meet me there, Tezuka? She’ll just love to meet Cleffa.” 

With a nod of agreement, Tezuka said, “Go on without me.” Sanada did not miss Tezuka pausing to watch Sengoku go... if he didn’t know better, he might even have thought that Tezuka was worried about his companion. If he was, it did not stop him from stepping into a private corner of the lobby with Sanada and being seated to chat.

“It’s about Atobe Keigo,” Sanada explained. “Have you heard from him recently?”

“Atobe?” Something in Tezuka’s eyes was strange - enough that it put Sanada on edge. He was so certain that Tezuka could not possibly be the one to have caused trouble for Atobe that he had ruled him out entirely. “No. I changed my number.” Sanada could only assume that contact from Atobe had been frequent prior to the number change. What a nuisance. 

“Do you know anyone who would have a reason to have stolen from him?” Everyone had a reason to steal from Atobe, Sanada realized moments after speaking the question. No one in the world had more money than Atobe Keigo. “A pokémon, rather.”

The obvious answer was immediately supplied for his question. “Team Rocket,” Tezuka said almost automatically, as though it had been ingrained into him. Two years before, Team Rocket had been forced to disband thanks to Tezuka’s interference in their plans to steal rare pokémon for profit, among other nefarious activities. They had recently become active again - once more it was dangerous for young trainers to be out on the road by themselves, it was possible they had taken the golden Caterpie.

Well, that was no help, really. “Anyone you know who holds a grudge against him?” Sanada had never known Tezuka to be one to think that deeply into any social interaction. He would likely not be shedding any great deal of light upon the situation.

Tezuka considered his words silently, but the pause between them was anything but. The Cleffa in his arms was still singing away to herself, waving her tiny arms and swaying with her music. “There is one person,” Tezuka mused finally, a thin frown meeting his lips. “Echizen Ryoma. He’s... a friend. However, he and Atobe have their differences.”

 _Have their differences_ was one way to put it. Everyone seemed to _have differences_ with Atobe.

“Yukimura Seiichi’s name also came up in reports,” Sanada suggested, watching Tezuka’s face for a reaction. It had only been two years since Tezuka defeated Yukimura, becoming the new champion of Kantou... though he was quick to refuse the title and wander off into obscurity. “Do you know anything about their relationship?”

With a roll of his eyes, Tezuka intoned, “Atobe does not like anyone to steal his spotlight.” Well, there was certainly plenty of spotlight on Yukimura. “But I would not suspect the champion.” Just as Sanada himself felt. That did not mean he was going to skip the opportunity to speak with the champion about the situation.

“Very well. Best of luck on your journey.” Sanada spared a glance for the Cleffa who appeared distraught that he would leave her behind - her little arms wiggled toward Sanada imploringly. He had to leave before he lost his composure in front of everyone in the building and snuggled the tiny creature against his cheek. He had to remain focused if he was going to find that caterpie - golden or no.

~*~

Floaroma.

The entire town smelled sweetly of flowers - some Sanada could identify (rose, honeysuckle, lily), some that he could not other than they were flowers and smelled good. Lilac (maybe?) grew along the edges of the building that supposedly housed the champion. And with all of the flowers around, there were bound to be bugs. Mountains and mountains of bugs. Every tree was wrought with Combee, Ledyba, and Wurmple. Some crazy person had smeared honey all over one of the trees and a Burmy was happily lapping up the sugary food.

Sanada was already feeling like his skin was going to crawl right off his body, like his hair was going to detach itself from his scalp, when the door opened in front of him revealing a shorter man with soft brown eyes and jet black hair. Behind him, by the grace of his hand pushing the pokémon back, was a Luxray. Its dead, yellow and red eyes glared at Sanada from under a puffy mane of dark indigo fur. 

“Sanada Genichirou-kun, right? Your brother told me you would be stopping by.” Yes, Sanada’s perfect older brother who was himself a member of the elite four probably _did_ rub elbows with the champion. Sanada nodded his head in affirmation which spurred the other man into continuing. “He speaks so highly of you; he says you’re the favorite son and he’s the one always trying to live up to you.” Well, he would say that - it was true that Sanada had taken on the “first son” role after his brother decided that years of family tradition didn’t matter and began his pokémon journey.

“You shouldn’t take him seriously,” Sanada muttered, folding his arms. “Yukimura-san, I am here about an incident with Atobe Keigo. I am hoping that you can shed some light on the situation.” He watched for a reaction from Yukimura, though he was not entirely sure what he was looking for. Surely the champion had years of practice hiding his thoughts from his expression for when he faced his toughest challengers. 

“Atobe,” Yukimura echoed, a hint of distaste in his tone. “I haven’t seen Atobe, lately. Did something happen to him?” Luxray growled menacingly, moving one paw forward as though he sensed his trainer’s dislike of the situation. Sanada held his ground, wary of the pokémon, regardless.

“A pokémon was stolen from him.”

“Team Rocket,” Yukimura suggested immediately, just as Tezuka had. “Start there. If things get out of hand, let me know. I’m always happy to cooperate with the police. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an egg that just hatched and I need to see about finding the little guy a trainer.”

“An egg?” Sanada’s curiosity got the better of him and he temporarily forgot entirely about the investigation. Perhaps realizing that Sanada wasn’t leaving anytime soon, Yukimura ushered Sanada inside, Luxray at their heels watching Sanada’s every suspicious movement. The freshly hatched pokémon was toddling around the living room, assisted by a very odd looking pokémon that looked like some sort of cross between a bug and a dragon with frills and a tail. The baby pokémon immediately, irrevocably stole Sanada’s heart.

“Piplup,” Yukimura explained, a soft smile meeting his lips as the poor creature fell flat on its face in its attempt to walk. Proudly, the small, fluffy bird stood once more, puffing out its chest like it was king of the universe, and continued to toddle around the room. “They have an attitude problem.”

“I’ll train it,” Sanada hastily offered, pleadingly turning his gaze on the champion.

“They don’t like to be trained,” Yukimura cautioned. “It’s hard to form any sort of bond with them since they won’t listen to commands or instructions.” Sanada didn’t care if it _attacked_ him, he had to be the one to raise this pokémon. It must have shown in his expression, because Yukimura was already saying, “Perhaps it would be a good fit for you, though - I can see you aren’t going to listen to my instructions, either.”

The odd pokémon suddenly latched itself to Genichirou’s side, immediately conjuring the horrible crawling feeling of his skin - like a thousand Caterpies were crawling over his arms and back. “What is that?” He demanded, trying not to look into its sharp eyes. 

“Oh, that’s Armaldo. Don’t mind him, he was fossilized for so long that he forgets his manners.”

Sanada decided the rumors of the champion’s madness were probably true - he should take the Piplup and never turn back.

~*~

“Nice Piplup,” the boy in front of him drawled when he was finally able to return to his investigation. Echizen Ryoma had indeed been difficult to track down, even more so than Tezuka and Yukimura. It had taken a flight to Unova to speak to him face-to-face... and even then Sanada had been forced to venture out onto the tennis court to find him. Echizen’s Liepard watched them lazily from a tree branch overhanging the court, blending in with the shadows cast by the leaves.

Sanada straightened his shoulders, ignoring the remark. “I’m here about Atobe Keigo.”

“The monkey king? I don’t know anything about him.” With a nickname like “monkey king,” Sanada severely doubted the truth of Echizen’s statement. All he knew about this boy was that Tezuka thought he might know something about Atobe’s situation because they did not get along. He was not sure there was any sense in pressing it, really. 

“Someone - _perhaps Team Rocket_ \- has stolen a pokémon from him. He asked the police to help him recover the pokémon.” If Echizen cared about the pokémon, Atobe, or both, it did not show in his expression. He sipped his soda, just watching Sanada speak. “It’s a golden caterpie.”

“A shiny, huh?” Echizen tossed his empty soda can into a nearby recycling bin at the edge of the court. “Nope, haven’t seen anything like that.” Sanada was just about to give up on Echizen as a lead and return to Renji empty-handed when Echizen continued, “Though... there’s this really annoying guy that is always talking about how he’s going to overcome Atobe. He might be pulling a prank on him, or something.”

That was promising. Sanada nodded along, prompting Echizen, “Continue.” That was when he would normally fold his arms over his chest in a way that would be tough and imposing or get out a notebook to take down notes of what Echizen said, but he had Piplup in his arms and he was not about to let go of him just to take notes.

“I didn’t really care what his name was, I just beat him,” Echizen muttered, his mouth twisting in annoyance. “Hiyo-something? Hiyoshi?”

“Hiyoshi Wakashi,” Sanada finished for him. He did know the kid - he had shown up when they did some background digging on Atobe as one of his personal relationships, though at the time they had not pursued information about him since his name had not cropped up more than once as it had been with Tezuka and Yukimura. “Thank you, I believe that was the information I needed.”

“Whatever,” Echizen muttered, taking up his racquet again. That, Sanada supposed, was the end of the conversation.

~*~

“Hiyoshi?” For the first time since they met, something like surprise was on Atobe’s face. He had been led off the trail just as much as the police themselves. “He looks to me as someone to defeat, yes, but I believe he is genuine in his desire to grow. There is no need for him to steal a beloved pokémon.” How anyone could love a creepy, crawly, wiggly pokémon like Caterpie was completely beyond Sanada.

“He is the best lead we have,” Sanada reasoned as they came to a stop outside the door of the interrogation room. “We’ll let him go if it checks out, but I want you in on this talk.” With that, he opened the door, obligating Atobe to joining them in the room. Renji was already there, sitting quietly across the table from Hiyoshi.

“Atobe, tell these idiots I didn’t take your stupid pokémon,” Hiyoshi grumbled the moment they walked in, looking off to the side. Renji’s efforts to get a confession out of him before Sanada and Atobe arrived must have been in vain. But, Hiyoshi did look like a pokémon stealing sort of person - he was sporting the standard issue Team Galactic haircut that Sanada had seen in his travels through Sinnoh in search of Yukimura.

Atobe sat beside Renji, though he did not exactly sit. He lounged in the chair, using every inch of his body effectively to pose as though he was on camera. Just one more annoyance about the whole situation. “I did,” he told Hiyoshi, running his fingers through his bangs to get them out of his eyes. “They think you’re suspicious. Frankly, they have a point, Wakashi.”

Stunned, or angry, Hiyoshi said nothing in reply, settling deep into his chair with a frown. 

“We can resolve this all very easily,” Renji assured them both, speaking the words Sanada had been hoping he would never hear. “We have Girafarig with us - it is able to detect guilt.”

“Psh, a polygraph,” Hiyoshi grumbled.

“Genichirou?” Renji looked up at Sanada imploringly, a faint smile on his lips.

Sanada felt every bit as annoyed and grumbly with the situation as Hiyoshi himself. He removed the pokéball from his belt that contained the horrible creature and opened it, releasing Girafarig. The monster stood before him, letting out a soft, high-pitched cry for freedom while the crazed eyes of its tail fixed on Sanada and it chomped its terrible teeth. “Girafarig,” Sanada instructed calmly, though it took all he had not to bolt from the room at the sight of the creature. “Is this man guilty of stealing a pokémon?”

“I’m not that stupid,” Hiyoshi muttered, though he was still hunched over in the chair.

Girafarig’s tail gnashed its teeth, deep in concentration as the seconds ticked by. Eventually, the pokémon let out another small disdainful sound indicating that Hiyoshi was not displaying any guilt. Their one lead had gone cold and now Sanada was also dealing with Atobe and Girafarig. Even Piplup was not quite a fair exchange for this nonsense.

“Hm. It would seem you are free to go,” Renji told Hiyoshi apologetically, his expression troubled. “Genichirou - you had better escort Atobe home. If this is what his friends are like, I’m worried he’ll be jumped in the streets.”

Sanada could not argue him, there.

~*~

The crisp air of early fall stung at Sanada’s cheeks as they finally arrived at the Atobe estate. Lush trees lined the yard - all of the leaves were changing color for the season turning beautiful shades of brown, red, and yellow. It certainly made the walk more pleasant as they made their way to the door of the mansion. 

“The case has not been closed, we will continue to seek your Caterpie,” Sanada promised Atobe, feeling like he had truly failed the other man. Even if it was a disgusting bug like Caterpine, Sanada thought about how much he cared for his Phanpy or his baby Piplup and how hard it would be for Atobe to lose a friend, even a gross wormy friend. The emptiness that would be left behind without his pokémon partners... well, not even Atobe should have to go through that.

“Thank you.” Atobe’s expression was guarded - distant. He held out his hand to shake hands with Sanada. “Happy hunting. You may yet make detective.” The complement seemed awkward and foreign coming from Atobe - like he was not used to speaking them.

“I will...” Sanada trailed off as his eyes focused on something worming its way across the grass toward them. At first, he thought it was a dark orange leaf caught in the wind, but it was too big to be a leaf. Not only was it too big, it crunched leaves underfoot as it moved toward them at a steady pace. “W...what...?” Sanada stepped back a half-pace, certain they were about to be attacked by some other godawful bug pokémon - they were everywhere, lately.

Atobe turned to face the thing approaching him and suddenly sprung into motion. “Metapod!” He declared happily, going to the _thing_ and scooping it up. It was indeed a Metapod, but not like any other Sanada had seen before. They were supposed to be green. Then again, Caterpie was also supposed to be green, so perhaps...?

“It evolved,” Sanada muttered. “You couldn’t find your Caterpie because _it evolved_.” The anger in him simmered up, burning his throat as a shout of rage built up in his chest.

“It’s so good to have you back!” Atobe was saying, cuddling the vile thing to his face in a way that was reserved for cute things like Piplups, Phanpys, and Cleffas. “I thought I’d lost you forever.”

Sanada wished very dearly for a moment that Atobe could be lost forever, all kind things he had thought about the man instantly dissolving. A month of his life wasted seeking this pokémon. Hours of travel. Countless money spent. Dealing with people like Hiyoshi and Echizen. Taking on a pokémon like Girafarig.

What he did not know was that this would be the story of how Sanada Genichirou and Atobe Keigo met, fought, and ultimately formed an alliance. How Sanada and Atobe became gym leaders of a psychic and dark dual-type gym. How one day, all trainers would have to earn their Tango Badge if they hoped to stand a chance facing off against Yukimura.


End file.
